Author Archive: dowd.andrew

So am I the only one who’s just a little burnt out on the Japanese horror movement? There’s no denying the appeal of these spooky imports from the East: for any horror fan who suffered through the 90s, a period dominated by mindless gore spectacles and glossy but uninspired thrillers, the Asian horror craze certainly […]

Pulse

Most scary movies are like jack-in-the-boxes: they’re little more than a series of startling moments, the cinematic equivalent of someone jumping out of the darkness and yelling “Boo!” Their one and only purpose is to provide those in the audience with a night’s worth of cheap, safe thrills, which they can absorb then quickly forget […]

Wolf Creek

These days, it is not enough that family films simply function as entertaining diversions. They must also teach some sort of valuable life lesson, leaving the children in the audience with something positive to mill over once they’ve left the theater. So it should come as no real surprise that there is a clear moral […]

Zathura

These words, spoken by Crashfest founder (and Film Monthly contributor) Gary Schultz, pretty accurately summed up the mood and spirit of the 6th annual Halloween Crash Bash. A costume party and short film festival rolled into one, the event has always been a laid-back but lively affair, and this year was no exception. Several hundred […]

The 2005 CrashFest Halloween Crash Bash – 2005

Forget Saw 2 and the rest of the tame, derivative “scary movies” being forced down America’s throat this Halloween. For real terror, the kind that lingers long after October has come and gone, put your money on Three… Extremes, the most chilling and imaginative horror movie of the year. The film is a collection of […]

Three… Extremes

It is telling of the times we live in that, for the second year in a row, the most honest cinematic exploration of American society has been delivered by a non-American filmmaker. Last year, the culprit was Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier. His criminally underrated Dogville connected U.S. self-righteousness with the country’s penchant for exploitation, […]